From the Sector

• Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director of Denim Expert Limited and Founder of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) has won Sustainable Fashion Champion at the Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards 2021, which took place virtually on 10 March.

On receiving the award, Mostafiz said he wants to be a game-changer in the apparel industry, leading by example to inspire others to behave responsibly and ethically.

He also dedicated the award to H&M which, he explained, supported his business, Denim Expert, through the pandemic by continuing to place orders He said the loyal support of the Swedish fashion giant almost certainly helped save the livelihoods of 2000 workers at his factory and their 10000 family members. “That’s true sustainability leadership,” he said.

The Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards recognise steps being made in reducing the fashion industry’s environmental impact and creating fairer working conditions across the supply chain.
Judged by an independent panel of sustainability and fashion retail experts, the awards shine a spotlight on best practice within the global fashion industry.

Covid-19 has presented unforeseen challenges for fashion retailers and brands, but it has also given us all an opportunity to build back better. Forward-thinking fashion businesses know change is not optional, and are embracing their responsibilities and ability to make a difference.

Mostafiz Uddin has been recognised as the Sustainable Fashion Champion 2021 for setting examples in promoting sustainability during the Covid-19 pandemic which broke out worldwide in March last year.
Jill Geoghegan, Acting Editor of Drapers, said: “Despite the challenges thrown up by the Coronavirus pandemic, fashion brands and retailers increasingly recognise that sustainability is a business imperative.”  
“Many businesses continued to invest in cleaning up their supply chains and introducing new models of working, despite the unprecedented trading conditions.

“The Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards highlight and celebrate these advancements, paving the way for a more responsible future for the industry.” Managing Director of Denim Expert Limited Mostafiz Uddin said: “In the pandemic, my factory Denim Expert Limited kept true to its commitment towards sustainability, despite an extremely difficult trading landscape.

“During the pandemic, I was vocal about the issue of buyer-supplier relationships and, in speaking out, I wanted to champion the cause of suppliers all over the world. Too often suppliers in garment supply chains do not have a voice because they fear that by speaking out, they will be treated unfavourably by brands.

“This was, of course, a risk on my own part but I like to think I stood up for what I think is right and ultimately, I believe progressive brands understood I was coming from a good place. Like them, all I want to see is a fair, ethical and sustainable industry where brands and retailers work in an environment of collaboration, not conflict.”

Mostafiz also had some special praise for H&M. He said: “It would have not been possible for me to support my workers during the pandemic, had my factory not received help from H&M during the unprecedented time. While Denim Expert suffered from huge orders cancellation and orders hold, H&M supported us by placing orders in the pandemic that saved thousands of lives and livelihoods. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this Award to H&M and its CEO Helena Helmersson.”

The judges of Drapers Sustainable Fashion Champion Award 2021 have been Kerry Bannigan, Founder, Conscious Fashion Campaign; Sarah Ditty, Global Policy Director, Fashion Revolution; Miriam Lahage, Founder, Aequip; Samata Pattinson, CEO, Red Carpet Green Dress; Caroline Rush, Chief Executive Officer, British Fashion Council; Lucy Shea, Group CEO, Futerra; Jane Shepherdson, Chairman, My Wardrobe HQ; and Dilys Williams, Director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion.

ISKO™, a leading denim ingredient brand, has applied its Responsible Innovation™ approach to create a collection with environmental and social responsibility at its heart. Incorporating clever technologies, a myriad of finishes and colors and state-of-the-art production techniques – ISKO works beyond compliance to ensure the highest standards have been met for its latest collection. Style, comfort and new advancements will inspire everyone from passionate denimheads to those on a quest for a comfortable look and feel – from the most laidback setting to the most extravagant occasions.

The collection uses ISKO R-TWO™ fabrics, made of a blend of reused and/or recycled resources. Certified to Textile Exchange environmental credentials, R-TWO ensures full traceability of reused and recycled content, maximizing impact at scale.

Collection 2022 Vol.1 includes four lifestyles, featuring comfort, style, color options and surprising new editions. These are meant to provide inspiration, highlighting and enhancing the properties and benefits of ISKO’s innovations according to specific moods and vibes.

Intelligently designed clothes made with the latest manufacturing technology are the results of the partnership between on of the leading denim innovators ISKO and the Italian brand HIGH. A project, part of the SS2021 HIGH collection, is the start of collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable fashion.

Aimed at bringing a positive change both for the planet and its people, the project presents two pieces – jacket and pants – which embody HIGH’s approach to creativity and production: a wellbalanced mix of specialists’ expertise and a tireless investigation on the latest and most responsible fabric technologies. HIGH identified the R-TWO™ program as the right fabric ingredient, ideal to level up sustainability in its looks.

Relying on a blend of reused and recycled materials, this revolutionary platform works by embedding material circularity into the production process, designing waste out of the system and minimizing impact at scale. With fully traced reused cotton coming from ISKO’s production loss, which is prevented from becoming waste by adding it back into the spinning process, and an efficient use of polyester materials which are spun into newly recycled fibers, the program can provide certified to Textile Exchange environmental credentials. According to the percentage of material contained, these can be either the Content Claim Standard, Global Recycled Standard, Organic Content Standard or Recycled Claim Standard, ensuring better use of raw materials and resource efficiency while providing advanced concepts that don’t compromise on their look and performance.

Additionally, to meet HIGH’s performance needs, ISKO has brought to the table one of its most popular technologies, of course in its R-TWO™ version: Jeggings™, super-stretch denim technology. Soft and lightweight as leggings, it provides comfort with the look of authentic denim and provides the perfect, responsible solution to usher the partnership.

• "We only promote products that we like and Kornit is offering a line up of technologically advanced equipment that can take our selected customers into the future of textile print on demand.”
• Responding to market needs for textile print on demand

Kornit Digital (Nasdaq: KRNT), a worldwide market leader in digital textile printing technology, continues to expand its market reach through Grup Transilvae partnership.

Founded in 1993 in Cluj, Grup Transilvae later expanded its reach nationally with a move to Bucharest. It has since developed into a complete solutions and services provider following partnerships with key industry manufacturers such as HP, MGI Digital Graphic Technology, Canon, Esko, Caldera, Efi, X-Rite - Pantone and Fotoba International etc. It has also more recently agree to support Matic, Highcon, Xlam, Sefa, Chemica and PlastGrommet. Now the company is increasingly focusing on the textile industry which is why it is partnering with Kornit.

CEO Bogdan Vasilescu explains: "We started with color management solutions, working on demand for Fogra with digitally printed DMI colors on textiles. We have also worked with Mimaki, Roland, Epson and Vutek on various projects including Eurotex Iasi, Zara and Rofobit in Bucharest. Eager to continue our growth spurt in the textile printing industry, we were looking for a trusted partner and Kornit was the obvious choice.”

"The collaboration with Kornit began officially in September and is a natural progression,” Vasilescu adds. “For a number of years, we have been considering ways to improve our offering by moving into textiles in the same way that we did for sign and display, home decor or packaging. We were just waiting for the right partner. We are always looking to collaborate with market leaders and we wanted to work with Kornit to tap into the potential of the print on demand textile market with an extensive textile printing portfolio.”

Grup Transilvae will represent all Kornit’s textile solutions, including Direct to Garment and Direct to Fabric, particularly for T-shirts, activewear, denim, fashion, beachwear, home textiles and fabrics.

Vasilescu continues: “We are looking forward to showing our existing customers how they can take advantage of the Covid 19 accelerated trends in digital print-on-demand and short-run print jobs. We will signpost how they can expand their application range, grow volumes and experience better ROI.”

Vasilescu concludes: “We only promote products that we like and Kornit is offering a line up of technologically advanced equipment that can take our valued customers into the future of textile print on demand.”

Omer Kulka, CMO at Kornit Digital states: “We are delighted to announce another great partnership with a distributor that is as passionate about our products and the textile printing industry as we are. Grup Transilvae has a long history of successfully entering new markets with leading manufacturers. We look forward to a long and happy partnership.”

The textile industry, one of the major industrial sectors worldwide, is going through a significant revolution, with changes taking place in various sections of textile processing. Biotechnology and biomimicry, for example, are continuously playing an important role in redefining the influence of the textile industry on society, and so is progress made in auxiliary chemistry, with advances investigated and then applied in almost every section of textile processing.  The outcome is amazingly promising.

Modern, real science is inextricably intertwined with environmental consciousness and they are definitely not mutually exclusive.

At RUDOLF GROUP modern, real science means pushing R&D so to constantly explore new technology and innovations that help transform the textile and fashion industries. We work to reduce the overall dependency on traditional and virgin resources.  Getting textile manufacturers as well as brand and retailers on board is key to achieve real change. By 2030 we aim for a significant fraction of our products to be either sourced through paths alternative to the traditional petrochemicals, or by upcycling waste and/or byproducts from other industries.

“This is the kind of genuine, tangible, environmental consciousness that truly defines us and that entails that RUDOLF GROUP has a responsibility for the needs of society as a whole.” Said Alberto De Conti, Head of Rudolf Fashion Division “We have a maniacal attention to the environmental impact of our operations and products. We have truly embedded in ourselves the notion that “sustainability” is a key issue and critical to the long-term survival of our company and of society at large. “

The combination of modern, real science and environmental consciousness leads to what RUDOLF GROUP call aspirational chemistry something unique and something that positions us as shining example and guiding light throughout the industry. That is, in fact, BETTER CHEMISTRY.

Two are the innovations rooted in aspirational chemistry that RUDOLF HUB1922 presents. The first one is our WASHLESS technology and the second one is a brand new launch: LASER SMOOTHER, which supports laser technology and helps creating much better denim looks.

WASHLESS

HUB1922 WASHLESS, which can be applied to both denim and non-denim, is the simultaneous application of
-    proprietary fluorine-free DWR (Durable Water Resistance) based on biomimicry to repel dirt
-    anti-microbial, anti-bacteria and anti-viral, non-migrating chemistry to stop body odour.
The combination of the 2 translates into garments that don’t require to be washed as much.

Life cycle assessment studies on clothes, detergents and washing machines show that home laundering is always the most energy‐demanding period during these products' life cycle, even higher than production or transportation phases.

“WASHLESS aims at changing consumer habits in clothing maintenance to a more environmentally friendly direction and represents a change that is the most feasible and efficient. Making washing machines obsolete is impossible, but even though the technologies in clothes cleaning have improved greatly, the washing frequency has not been reduced. We own more and more clothing and wash it more frequently. This increased amount of washing counteracts the technological improvements in home laundry. “ said De Conti.

It is only by understanding the climate change impact associated with home laundering that product innovations and consumer education can be explored. Studies consistently show that a carbon dioxide reduction of 105 MT and electricity savings of 142 thousand GWh can be obtained by reducing home laundering, on average, by 1/3. This is roughly equivalent to removing 12% of the 140 M passenger cars in the US, or taking 23 coal power plants off the grid. In addition, more than 60% of water consumed while laundering (2,000 billion liters) can be reduced through these strategies.

LASER SMOOTHER

Laser denim is the current dominant technology available to the denim industry to create locally abraded areas, vintage effects, whiskers, patterns, patches, and even intentional holes and tears in a garment. Laser technology uses less water, harmful chemicals (such as potassium permanganate) and energy to create a wide variety of denim looks.

However, laser is not always able to produce the desired look, on the desired fabric, in the desired time. Therefore, chemical companies have been developing laser boosters that can be pre-applied to the garments in order to intensify the effect of the laser to mimic heavier bleaching applications. Unfortunately, laser boosters can create blurred images where the definition is lower and the overall image less natural.

The brand new RUDOLF HUB1922 LASER SMOOTHER is an all-in-one formulation, very easy to pre-apply to garments before laser burning and that return a very natural image which is very similar to the highly desirable hand scraping. Laser smoother can be applied by traditional exhaust or through nebulization and it dries at normal temperature in normal tumble driers.  Advantages of LASER PRIMER are:

•    Remarkable enhancement of the fabric’s characteristics (heightening of material)
•    Overall effect much more natural and similar to manual scraping (craftsmanship dimension)
•    Reduced required laser power to achieve the wanted effect (conspicuous energy saving)
•    A faster laser burning process (significant time saving, depending on the final effect)
•    Any other chemical spray is not required (environmental friendliness)
•    Reduced cost compared to other solution (financial viability)

Two ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 looks make their debut at the Graduate Fashion Foundation, part of London Fashion Week, a springboard for new talent striving to bridge the gap between education and industry.

Following an unprecedented academic year, GFF celebrates how the Class of 2020 have adapted and overcome adversity to complete their degrees across 26 fashion specialisms, from Design and Knitwear to Comms, Marketing and Business. London, 17-22 September – To bring together fashion educators and industry leaders and to support their graduates to reach their full potential once they have graduated: this has always been GFF’s main goal for the past 28 years. Now more than ever, GFF continues in its long-standing commitment to share good practice and knowledge and to inspire students to become innovators, environmental leaders, employees, and educators while promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity within an international platform – very much in keeping with ISKO I-SKOOL™ values and approach which resonate throughout the contest’s Denim Awards.

Designers Kotryna Adomaityte and Isabel Hambly from Nottingham Trent University were 2 of the 9 winners of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 Awards, announced in a phygital ceremony held on July 22. The two students were invited to showcase their winning creations at GFF. Kotryna, winner of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ PERICOLO Award by Cadica Group, impressed the audience with her “Wild West Denim” look to London at the GFF Showroom.

Isabel Hambly, winner of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ Best Marketable Product, stole the show with her “Women at war” outfit which was displayed at the Catwalk Show, live-streamed from Samsung KX on September 22. That two of ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 winners and finalists were part of this important event is proof of the significant role the contest – developed and supported by ISKO – plays in nurturing and championing talent and creativity. This edition’s main concept was world’s citizenship, with the Creative Theme “North, East, South, West – connected by one planet”. The twenty shortlisted finalists were asked to dig into their roots and to approach different cultures, defining and tracking down the geography of the world connecting them through responsibility. In addition to exploring the planet both locally and globally, they were also required to take into account the product life cycle of their outfits – featuring a 5-pocket jeans to interpret their view on the “local” concept and two Denim Show Pieces to reflect their worldwide influences and topics of interest. These were made with top ISKO™ denim fabrics, meeting the designers’ needs and providing a strong sustainable ingredient.

“We are really proud that two of our winners made it to GFF, with which we have many values in common – it marks another important step in their journey” said ISKO Senior Executive ISKO I-SKOOL™ Project Irem Orhun. “All of this goes to show how ISKO I-SKOOL™ plays a fundamental role in providing the foundation to enter the industry more aware of your skills and capabilities.”

• There is an urban legend that hemp canvas was used to make the very first pair of Levi’s jeans.
• While this is a myth that originated in the counterculture of the 1960s, hemp is without doubt the fibre of the moment for the denim industry.

At the second Kingpins24 virtual denim show that was broadcast from New York on June 23rd and 24th, the sustainable benefits of hemp fibre were referenced by many Monforts customers who are now including it in their collections, including AGI Denim, Artistic Milliners, Black Peony, Calik, Cone Denim, Naveena Denim Mills (NDM) and Orta.

“Hemp is an easy to grow fibre which requires no irrigation, no fertilizers, no herbicides and no chemicals,” says Allan Little, Director of Product Development for Cone Denim, which has recently launched its Sweet Leaf collection featuring the fibre. “Significantly, it also uses fifty per cent or even less water than cotton in cultivation.”

It can also bring some new aesthetics to denim too, he adds.

“Hemp has a unique colour and adds a different cast to our indigo, the drape and texture of the fabrics is different and it even adds  a bit of a unique hand, so combined with its sustainable credentials we are proud to be bringing the Sweet Leaf collection to the market.”

US supply chain

Cone is currently sourcing its hemp from France, but with much of its manufacturing now in Mexico – and with the introduction of the US Farm Bill in 2018 which has legalised the growing of legal hemp – is exploring the possibility of investing in the US supply chain.

“With US hemp we’re really at the R&D phase,” Little emphasises. “It’s a unique crop, so coming up with the right stalk to provide the right fibre is challenging. We’ve experimented with different types of seed and various methods of decortication.”

Decortication, he explains, is the mechanical removal of the outside layer of the hemp stalk to useable fibre on the inside. A second process, cottonization, is necessary to make the fibre suitable for spinning, because compared to cotton, hemp is longer, stiffer, and less flexible.

100% success

At the end of 2019, Naveena (NDM), headquartered in Karachi, introduced fabrics featuring up to 51% hemp content in blends with Tencel and recycled polyester and this year has developed the first 100% hemp denims.

“The response to the fabrics we showed last year was incredible and we were looking forward to the response to this latest development – which everyone was asking for – at the Kingpins show in Amsterdam, which unfortunately was unable to go ahead,” says NDM’s Director of Marketing Rashid Iqbal. “We produced initial samples in an undyed state because we were not sure how the wet spun yarn would react in the dyeing, but I’m happy to say we have had success in this respect and are now able to provide one hundred per cent indigo dyed hemp denim.”

Environmental benefits

“Differentiation is the key in the highly-competitive denim industry and we have assisted our customers with trials and optimised processing parameters for a range of different fibres, including hemp, both at our Advanced Technology Centre in Germany and at their own mills around the world,” says Hans Wroblowski, Monforts Head of Denim. “Given the environmental benefits of hemp, and the liberalisation of its cultivation in many parts of the world, the interest in it now comes as no surprise. We have the technologies and know-how to help our customers to fully maximise their hemp denims at all post-weaving stages of production.”

Monforts has a dominant position in the field of denim finishing with its well proven Montex stenters. It has been enjoying further recent success with its Eco Line concept based on two key technology advances – the Eco Applicator and the Thermo Stretch.

The latest Monforts innovation for denim is the CYD yarn dyeing system. This technology is based on the effective and established dyeing process for denim fabrics that is now being applied for yarn dyeing.

The CYD system also integrates new functions and processes into the weaving preparation processes – spinning, direct beaming, warping and assembly beaming, followed by sizing and dyeing – to increase quality, flexibility, economic viability and productivity. A full CYD line is now available for trials at the company’s Advanced Technology Centre.

The two brands have been working together to develop unique concepts for FW2019 and SS2020 collection, starting from premium ISKO™ denim.

Each garment is sartorially and carefully thought out to result in a beautiful product that is respectful of people and the planet.Excellence is in the detail and DW knows it well. The Italian brand always focused on quality standards and craftmanship to develope its collections.
From fabrics to stitching to accessories, every small element is carefully envisioned and developed to create garments are safe for the planet and its people. With cutting-edge technologies and forefront treatments being part of the process, the partnership with ISKO, one of the leading denim ingredient brands, came naturally – the next step forward in a journey toward distinction.

Being the first mill in the world to be awarded both Nordic Swan Ecolabel and EU Ecolabel, the company provided responsible solutions to better define DW’s vision. Combined with the brand’s tradition and expertise, the fabrics developed by ISKO the denim pieces are unite responsibility and quality, according to the mill’s Responsible Innovation™ approach.
The result is the five pockets Milano model and the American pocket Enea pant, both available in different washes and colors.

Featuring the innovative ISKO’s R-TWO™ program, the collection has a new take on sustainability: it relies on fabrics made of reused and recycled materials as well as an advanced design research for the development of a new, conscious style.

Sustainability through the use of highly responsible materials and the experimentation of fits: this is Reloved, the new collection developed by haikure in partnership with leading denim ingredient brand ISKO. Presented with an exclusive preview during Milan Fashion Week, it is an act of love for the planet, the environment and the people.

The project perfectly embodies all the values that made the longstanding partnership between the two brands possible – a responsible approach to innovation and the development of cutting-edge concepts.

Taking into account both materials and design, Reloved features the pioneering ISKO’s R-TWO™ program, which relies on a blend of reused cotton and recycled polyester.

During the processing of raw cotton into yarn, for every 100 kilos of cotton approximately 10% is lost. ISKO collects it and prevents it from becoming waste, adding it back into the spinning process obtaining cotton that is fully traced, documented and audited. This verification process has been invented by ISKO in partnership with its yarn supplier Sanko, offering full clarity into the traceability of reused cotton from field to fabric. It is also certified with the Content Claim Standard – or CCS – of the Textile Exchange.

Recycled polyester comes from clear plastic bottles or, alternatively, it can come from other certified waste: in either case the source material is collected, sorted, stripped of labels and caps, and cleaned to be ground into plastic pellets. These can then be re-spun into new fiber filaments.

Depending on the content percentages, for the recycled polyester ISKO can provide either the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certifications, both of which track the recycled raw material through the supply chain from input to final product to verify its integrity.

Designed to tackle over-sourcing, the platform improves the environmental performance impact of yarn-to-fabric production. As ISKO’s latest responsible evolution, ISKO’s latest responsible evolution has resulted also in the perfect solution to enhance the responsible character of the Reloved collection.

The collection’s fresh and innovative take on style combines unisex concepts and oversized fits, is available in one shade of color featuring a variety of prints and is crafted with the planet and its inhabitants in mind. To provide full clarity and traceability from field to shelf, materials and processes are kept under the control of Made By, an independent agency that controls the social and environmental conditions of all elements of the production process.

“haikure and ISKO have always shared the same values and approach to innovation,” explained Elena Faleschini, ISKO Global Field Marketing Manager. “When we have the opportunity to work together, we know that the result is going to be astounding. Reloved is a testament to how fashion can be both innovative and responsible, without compromising on style.” A preview of Reloved was presented on Febuary 22nd, during a special happening that took place at Clan Upstairs (Vicolo Fiori 2, Milan), gathering friends, partners and denim lovers.

Monforts customer Rajby Textiles is the first company in the world to have finally achieved the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Platinum Standard for a product. Its Beluga denim fabrics have gained the ultimate sustainability score in all five categories covered by the C2C standard, which is acknowledged as involving the toughest and most thorough testing and assessment it is possible to put a product through.

As such, Beluga denim fabric is based on 100% GOTS certified organic cotton and employs no hazardous chemicals in its production. At the same time, it is both recyclable and biodegradable, with 100% of the energy used in its production offset by green energy and involving a closed loop system with no waste water generated and no material wastage.

The new Beluga denim fabrics, however, represent a new zenith in circular denim production. To meet the active cycling requirement, Rajby has committed to using Beluga denim fabric exclusively in apparel products sold by retailers with take back programmes in place and estimated expected cycling rates for such products